The present invention concerns a combat vehicle (armored troop carrier) with both a diesel-electric drive mechanism and a hatch for the riflemen in the rear.
Armored troop carriers usually have a rear hatchway to allow the troops to get in and out rapidly in a protected area. The drive mechanism is accordingly usually forward to keep the rear free for the troops and the hatchway.
Forward drive mechanisms for combat vehicles have, however, turned out to be detrimental for many reasons, and it is now considered desirable to install such mechanisms in the rear of new models, both armored troop carriers and military tanks. Since on the other hand a hatchway at the rear remains just as unavoidably necessary for significant tactical reasons as ever, conventional drive mechanisms can no longer be considered in that the lack of space at the rear to accommodate them along with the hatchway will be immediately evident.
The Israeli armaments industry has attempted to resolve this conflict with a special type of transmission for the rear drive mechanisms employed in new models. This transmission when installed leaves room for a narrow passage between it and the wall of the vehicle. Rising about 50 cm above the bottom of this passage is a transmission tunnel that leads to the right-side drive wheel. The 60 cm of space above the tunnel is of course much too shallow to allow the troops to get in and out rapidly. To deepen the space, the Israelis have had recourse to raising the roof above the passage at the rear of the vehicle. The result is a triangular "gable" that the troops can leave the troop carrier through.
This design has several drawbacks. There is little room in spite of the elevated roof. The vehicle presents an extensive silhouette at the critical moment the troops are getting out of it and particularly at the point that is specifically at hazard. The troops have to jump over the transmission tunnel when getting in and out.
The object of the present invention is accordingly an ergonomically satisfactory and space-saving design for a combat vehicle (armored troop carrier) that will allow the troops to get in and out rapidly and easily even though the drive mechanism is not forward.
This object is attained in accordance with the present invention wherein the drive mechanism includes separate motors that drive the tracks and several current-generating diesel-electric aggregates, each in the form of a generator powered by a diesel engine, whereby the diesel-electric aggregates are positioned symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and above the track cover, leaving a passage between the inside of the vehicle and the hatch that is either open or that can be opened or expanded by moving the diesel-electric aggregates.
Advantageous embodiments and advanced versions of the invention will be evident from the following disclosure.
The object of the present invention is accordingly a combat vehicle with a rear hatch and a track powered by a diesel-electric drive mechanism in the rear. It is characterized in that the drive mechanism includes separate motors that drive the tracks and several current-generating diesel-electric aggregates, each in the form of a generator powered by an automobile-type diesel engine, whereby the diesel-electric aggregates are positioned symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and above the track cover, leaving a passage between the inside of the vehicle and the hatch that is either open or that can be opened or expanded by moving the diesel-electric aggregates.
Several diesel-electric aggregates can be distributed one after another along the vehicle in the form of a coherent train that is essentially as wide as a single aggregate and positioned immediately above the track cover on each side of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The diesel-electric aggregates on each side of the vehicle can all be accommodated in a housing that can be detached from the vehicle.
All the vehicle's diesel-electric aggregates in one embodiment of the present invention can be accommodated in a housing at the rear of the vehicle and extending essentially over its whole width. The passage can then be located below the housing and the housing can be lifted to a prescribed extent by a lifting mechanism.
One half of each diesel-electric aggregate in another embodiment can be accommodated in a housing at the rear. When this vehicle is ready to travel, the two housings symmetrical to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle communicate across the vehicle, the passage is below them, and each can be displaced horizontally outward to a prescribed extent by a displacement mechanism.
One half of each diesel-electric aggregate in still another embodiment can be accommodated in a housing at the rear. When the vehicle is ready to travel, the two housings symmetrical to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle communicate across the vehicle, the passage is below them, and each housing can be tilted outward to a prescribed extent around a horizontal axis at the lower outer edge of each housing by a tilting mechanism.
One half of each diesel-electric aggregate in still another embodiment, finally, can be accommodated in a housing at the rear of the vehicle. When the vehicle is ready to travel, the two housings symmetrical to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle communicate across the vehicle, the passage is below them, and each housing can be pivoted a prescribed angle around a vertical axis in the vicinity of the forward outer edge of the housing by a pivoting mechanism.
Many have for a long time thought about and attempted to redesign the drive mechanisms of combat vehicles on a diesel-electric basis. The point of departure has been an internal-combustion engine, preferably a diesel engine, to power a generator and distribute the resulting current over appropriate lines to motors that would drive a track. The major advantage of such a diesel-electric drive mechanism would be the possibility in accordance with the diesel-electric principle of installing separate and loose in the form of internal-combustion engines, generator, and motors the conventionally assembled components motor, transmission, and take-off that had always been integrated as a module into the vehicle and that accordingly generally dictated its dimensions, arriving at a more satisfactory utilization of the available space. The point of departure for previous approaches to diesel-electric vehicle had usually been one or no more than two engines accommodated in either the front or the rear (and sometimes at the middle). The size of these devices, however, still demanded considerable dimensions. Combat vehicles on the other hand always include a lot of corners and niches that could have provided potentially utilizable space except that they were not the right shape to accommodate large drive mechanisms. This situation suggested exploiting the space inside the vehicle better by dividing the internal-combustion engines into smaller components that could be distributed inside the vehicle where space was available.
A power of 1300 kW is obtained to drive a combat vehicle in accordance with the present invention not with a single engine but with for example ten small engines delivering 130 kW each. Such 130 kW engines are sold as automobile engines (turbodiesels) by various manufacturers. One example is the Daimler Benz OM 606 D 30 LA. These engines are small enough to be accommodated in areas inside combat vehicles that have previously been unavailable, and allow entirely new design concepts. The diesel-electric drive-mechanism theory behind the present invention also allows an electric generator to be flanged onto each engine, with their output being combined to supply motors for the tracks. In addition to the convenient spatial conditions ensured by such mechanisms there is an additional advantage of redundancy within the system. If one engine fails through either defect or damage in combat, the overall system will keep going although at decreased output. Furthermore, several small engines weigh less than a single large one and also cost less because they are manufactured in large numbers on an industrial scale.